College student and"software engineer"computer programmer (someone conferred that title on me when they gave me a job, and now it's part of my identity, I guess). I also read newspapers and books, listen to music, and go to the movies, just like normal people.

Trying to avoid "building a career," and anyone else who is doing that. I have one though, apparently. It was an accident.

But the important stuff I'm doing is trying not to spend too much time on (often pointless) work, enjoying school when possiblelamenting that I'm not taking any classes. This is sad.

And taking every opportunity to travel outside the country. Much of the rest of the world is worth seeing, turns out.

Programming computers. Stockpiling LPs. Memorizing what year albums came out, real useful stuff like that.

After a couple hours people notice I like records and movies and am pretty left wing*. In short little interactions, though, I dunno. They probably just notice I'm a white person with no discernible hairstyle and bad clothes. This is only a guess.

*Don't worry, it's the kind of "left wing" that's tempered by deep cynicism, so I hardly ever talk about it.

Books, authors read recently:
Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Christopher Hitchens (RIP, or whatever you're supposed to say), Orwell's journalism,and (should I admit to this?) Philip K Dick.

Update: Only read TERRIBLE SCIENCE FICTION now.

Movies:
Ong-Bak. Bruce Lee movies. Videodrome. Love and Death. Straw Dogs. The Conversation. Zero Effect. Waltz With Bashir. Brain Candy. Total Recall (80s). Blade Runner.

TV Shows:
Kids in the Hall. Mystery Science Theater 3000. Arrested Development. Twin Peaks. Louie. Space Ghost: Coast To Coast. Archer. Seinfeld. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Cowboy Bebop. NO FAMILY GUY.

Music:
Elvis Costello. The Kinks. The Replacements. Talking Heads. Television. Velvet Underground. Robyn Hitchcock. Bowie. Brian Eno (a little). Cate Le Bon. Big Star. Joe Jackson. Frank Zappa. Townes Van Zandt. Fairport Convention. Captain Beefheart. Minutemen. The Stooges. Funkadelic. Bootsy Collins. Oingo Boingo. Cocteau Twins. Yo La Tengo.

Food:
Totally uneducated. Please help.

I could probably write a "Six Things I Could Definitely Do Without" list much easier, but let's see...

1. A big pile of books I haven't read yet.
2. Pile of records I haven't listened to yet.
3. Good movie theaters with bars in them (UPDATE: They also should play good movies. Yes, Inwood Theater, that means YOU.)
4. Strong coffee
5. Strong drinks
6. Guitar (personal amusement)

Computers, technology, education (like, needing more of it)

Also: war, poverty, death, cancer, why everyone likes money so much.

Drinks with friendsFriends never visit, so: hardcore, extreme computer programming.

I read a whole Orson Scott Card novel during the last vacation I took, where it was the only book written in English that I could find within probably a thousand miles.

...

I liked it.